The July 1 start of NHL free agency is rapidly approaching. Everyone is chomping at the bit to see who the Ducks will add to the roster in order to take next step. Before looking to add new players, we started by looking at which pieces to keep, specifically the Ducks Unrestricted and Restricted Free Agents.
To start, the Ducks have $49.335M in payroll commitments to 19 players next season. The projected cap will fall somewhere between $69.5M to $71.5M. That will leave the team with approximately $20.1M on the low end to $22.1M on the high end to fill out the roster.
The Ducks chose not to offer contracts to UFAs Saku Koivu, Jonas Hiller and Daniel Winnik, last week. I agreed with the first two and thought they should have offered the latter a contract (more on Winnk later). I also wrote that the Ducks should pay to keep key RFAs Devante Smith-Pelly, Sami Vatanen, Mathieu Perrault, and Jakob Sifverberg. As previously stated, these players look to be key components of the team's future. The estimated cost to retain them was roughly $10M to do so. That leaves about $10.1M to $12.1M to make a play for available talent. While that number is good, I can see where the Ducks can make another $7M + available through a combination of buyouts and/or trades.
Sheldon Souray No one is sure if his wrist injury is career ending. He is scheduled to make $3.7M next season, in the final year of his contract. That is big money to pay for a guy who might be able to play. In addition, will his trademark blistering slapshot come back with him. If he can pass his physical, now is the time to buy him out. If not, the Ducks need to get him on the Long Term Injured Reserve list, so his salary doesn't affect the cap.
Bryan Allen The 33 year-old defenseman is in the final year of his contract as well. He is scheduled to make $3.5M in 2014-15. He had his moments last year, but figures to be a 5/6, bottom pair player in Anaheim going forward. He is a buyout target, but he does have trade value as well. On the right team, he is a 20 minute per night player and veteran leader. Although the Ducks might have to eat a bit of his paycheck, he is worth a minor leaguer or draft pick. The bottom line being the money he would make next season is best used elsewhere.
Shedding Souray's and Allen's contracts would open up and additional $7.2M in cap space, bringing the total money available to $17.3M to $19.3M next season. Considering the Ducks had the best record in the Western Conference last year and the players leaving (with the possible exception of Hiller) would be role players next year, it leaves room to add some significant talent to an already talented group.
On to a few other topics:
The Ducks hired former Blackhawks and Norfolk Admirals head coach Trent Yawney to replace Bob Woods as an assistant coach on Bruce Boudreau's staff.
The Columbus-Philly deal in which the teams swapped RJ Umberger for Scott Hartnell just made Daniel Winnik much richer. Other teams looking to acquire either Umberger or Hartnell now must look elsewhere and Winnik's agent should be fielding plenty of calls.
The 2014-15 NHL Schedule was released this week. I'm not big on analyzing these things so far in advance, but I'll be looking forward to November 12th and 15th. The Ducks have a home and home with the Stanley Cup Champion Kings. I expect both teams to vie for “Alpha Male… status in the division in these two games.
-Ed